Britain is withdrawing some personnel from an airbase in Qatar, following the lead from the US.Military personnel are being withdrawn from the al-Udeid airbase, where the RAF is stationed alongside American forces, reports The i.According to reports, an RAF tanker departed the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus headed to al-Udeid airbase, although flight data appeared to show it then headed back toward Europe.A Ministry of Defence spokesman told GB News: “We do not comment on details of basing and deployments due to operational security.
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“The UK always puts precautionary measures in place to ensure the security and safety of our personnel, including where necessary withdrawing personnel.”Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest US base, housing around 10,000 troops.One diplomat told reporters: “It’s a posture change and not an ordered evacuation”, adding he was not aware that a specific reason had been given for the posture change.Another diplomat added: “All the signals are that a US attack is imminent, but that is also how this administration behaves to keep everyone on their toes. Unpredictability is part of the strategy.Last year, more than a week before the US launched air strikes on Iran, some personnel and families were moved off US bases in the Middle East. After the US attacks in June, Iran launched a missile attack on the base in Qatar.President Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran, where thousands of people have been reported killed in a crackdown on the protests against clerical rule.Iran and its Western foes have both described the unrest, which began two weeks ago as demonstrations against dire economic conditions and rapidly escalated in recent days, as the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed Iran’s system of clerical rule.An Iranian official has said more than 2,000 people have died. A human rights group put the toll at more than 2,600.LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM IRANIranian shopkeeper, just 26, ‘to be HANGED after spending final minutes with family’Donald Trump ‘prepares nuclear targets’ in Iran as Americans told to ‘leave NOW’Brave Iranian protester shot dead by security forces said locals have ‘lost the fear of death’Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The world is watching Iran. The UK will continue to confront the regime’s lies; to call out its repression; and to take the steps necessary to protect the UK’s interests.”A senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tehran had asked US allies in the region to prevent Washington from attacking Iran.They said: “Tehran has told regional countries, from Saudi Arabia and UAE to Turkey, that US bases in those countries will be attacked.”Direct contacts between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had been suspended, the official added.The flow of information from inside Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout.US-based HRANA rights group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated individuals, dwarfing tolls from previous waves of protests crushed by the authorities in 2022 and 2009.Tehran’s prestige was severely damaged last year by a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign in June, joined by the US, that followed setbacks for Iran’s regional allies in Lebanon and Syria. European countries triggered the restoration of UN sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme, worsening an economic crisis.The authorities in Tehran have sought to project images showing they retain public support. Iranian state TV broadcast footage of large funeral processions for people killed in the unrest in Tehran, Isfahan, Bushehr and other cities.People waved flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and held aloft signs with anti-riot slogans.President Masoud Pezeshkian, an elected figure whose power is subordinate to that of Khamenei, told a cabinet meeting that as long as the government had popular support, “all the enemies’ efforts against the country will come to nothing”.State media reported that the head of Iran’s top security body, Ali Larijani, had spoken to the Foreign Minister of Qatar, while Iran’s Mr Araqchi had spoken to his Emirati and Turkish counterparts. Mr Araqchi told UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed that “calm has prevailed”.
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